Background
Obtaining chloroplast genome sequences is important to increase the knowledge about the fundamental biology of plastids, to understand evolutionary and ecological processes in the evolution of plants, to develop biotechnological applications (e.g. plastid engineering) and to improve the efficiency of breeding schemes. Extraction of pure chloroplast DNA is required for efficient sequencing of chloroplast genomes. Unfortunately, most protocols for extracting chloroplast DNA were developed for eudicots and do not produce sufficiently pure yields for a shotgun sequencing approach of whole plastid genomes from the monocot grasses.
Methodology/Principal Findings
We have developed a simple and inexpensive method to obtain chloroplast DNA from grass species by modifying and extending protocols optimized for the use in eudicots. Many protocols for extracting chloroplast DNA require an ultracentrifugation step to efficiently separate chloroplast DNA from nuclear DNA. The develope...

Grasses rank among the world's most ecologically and economically important plants. Repeated evolution of the C 4 syndrome has made photosynthesis highly efficient in many grasses, inspiring intensive efforts to engineer the pathway into C 3 crops. However, comparative biology has been of limited use to this endeavor because of uncertainty in the number and phylogenetic placement of C 4 origins. ? We built the most comprehensive and robust molecular phylogeny for grasses to date, expanding sampling efforts of a previous working group from 62 to 531 taxa, emphasizing the C 4-rich PACMAD (Panicoideae, Arundinoideae, Chloridoideae, Micrairoideae, Aristidoideae and Danthonioideae) clade. Our final matrix comprises c. 5700bp and is>93% complete. ? For the first time, we present strong support for relationships among all the major grass lineages. Several new C 4 lineages are identified, and previously inferred origins confirmed. C 3/C 4 evolutionary transitions have been highly as...

End of project reportThe importance of gene movement from cultivated plants has been highlighted in regard to minimising the movement of seed and/or pollen between GM and non-GM crops (i.e. gene flow). Although ryegrass covers in excess of 90% of Ireland’s agricultural area, very little is known about gene flow from ryegrass populations from an Irish context. The goal of this project was to address this lack of data by measuring the degree of pollen-mediated gene-flow between two Lolium spp. in a field environment. Ryegrass (esp. Lolium perenne) was selected because as the dominant pasture grass it is critical for the livestock industry as well as being a current target for novel improvements. The results from this research indicate that the potential for pollen-mediated gene flow from perennial ryegrass decreases exponentially with increased distance from the pollen source, with hybridisation events recorded out at 192m. In parallel to this research, a separate study was condu...

Background and Aims Stomatal morphology and function have remained largely conserved throughout similar to 400 million years of plant evolution. However, plant cell wall composition has evolved and changed. Here stomatal cell wall composition was investigated in different vascular plant groups in attempt to understand their possible effect on stomatal function.
Methods A renewed look at stomatal cell walls was attempted utilizing digitalized polar microscopy, confocal microscopy, histology and a numerical finite-elements simulation. The six species of vascular plants chosen for this study cover a broad structural, ecophysiological and evolutionary spectrum: ferns (Asplenium nidus and Platycerium bifurcatum) and angiosperms (Arabidopsis thaliana and Commelina erecta) with kidney-shaped stomata, and grasses (angiosperms, family Poaceae) with dumbbell-shaped stomata (Sorghum bicolor and Triticum aestivum).
Key Results Three distinct patterns of cellulose crystallinity in stomatal cell ...

End of project reportSilage is made on approximately 86% of Irish farms, and 85% of these make some baled silage. Baled silage is particularly important as the primary silage making, storage and feeding system on many beef and smaller sized farms, but is also employed as a secondary system (often associated with facilitating grazing management during mid-summer) on many dairy and larger sized farms (O’Kiely et al., 2002). Previous surveys on farms indicated that the extent of visible fungal growth on baled silage was sometimes quite large, and could be a cause for concern. Whereas some improvements could come from applying existing knowledge and technologies, the circumstances surrounding the making and storage of baled silage suggested that environmental conditions within the bale differed from those in conventional silos, and that further knowledge was required in order to arrive at a secure set of recommendations for baled silage systems. This report deals with the final in ...

End of project reportThe objective of this project was to investigate the environmental, morphological and management factors that control reproductive initiation and development in Lolium perenne L. (perennial ryegrass) and their influence on mid-season sward quality. These factors were assessed on eight perennial ryegrass cultivars through spaced plant and plot studies. The first part of this project determined the effects of meteorological conditions and latitude on reproductive initiation and ear emergence of cultivars over two consecutive years. It was concluded that the critical day length requirement for reproductive initiation varies between perennial ryegrass cultivars and is independent of latitude and the normal range of conditions. Using this information a strong correlation (r2 = 0.94) was found between the critical day length for ear initiation and the ten year standardised ear emergence dates of the cultivars. This correlation was sufficiently robust to predict t...